my dr says I'm 2 cm dilated but he never reports anything about efacement, guess I could ask him next time. which is a better indicator for labor timing?
2007-12-27 04:54:23 · 6 answers · asked by Jane Magnolia 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Pregnancy
effacement is the thinning of the cervix and dilation when the cervix begins to open. The first person who answered is wrong you most times are not fully effaced before dilation begins. Effacement and dilation progress together but not always at the same speed. Neither is necessarily a better indicator for labor.
2007-12-27 05:03:58 · answer #1 · answered by hotmamaof3_1 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Effacement is a much better indicator. You can dialate to 3 or 4 cm but progress will not be able to continue until effacement completes. If you are 2-3 cm dialate but only 10 or 20% effaced, then you can very possibly go another 2-3 weeks like that. If you are 2 cm dialated along with 70 or 80% effaced, there is a much better chance that labor will come soon and it will go quickly. Effacement is the part of labor that takes the most time to complete. Once you go into labor and become 100% effaced, the dialation from 2cm or wherever you start at doesn't take long to get up to 10cm. I can't believe your doctor didn't tell you that part! Ask him what station the baby's head is at too. If the baby's head is very low into the pelvis, that is also a good sign that things will happen soon and that the labor will be quicker. If the baby's head is at 0 station for example, that means it is even with your cervix and pelvis. It it is at -2, that means the baby's head is still high in the pelvis and the baby's head isn't putting much pressure on the cervix. If you are at +2, then the baby's head is very low and pressing firmly on your cervix and the head is partially through the pelvic bones. If the head is at +2, you are 2 cm dialated along with being 50% or more effaced, then your body is ready for labor at any given time and it would probably be a fairly quick labor. You can even be at -2, 2 cm dialated and only 10% effaced though and go into labor out of nowhere. It really varies from person to peron. Having a good effacement and having the head at a low station just increases the chance of you going early though. Good luck mommy! By the way, the first person IS wrong. You most definately can dialate before effacement or have effacement without dialation. They can progress equally or one can be much more than the other.
I put a link here so you can see an example of effacement versus dialation. http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff189/labornursepics/dilationandeffacement.gif
2007-12-27 13:14:11 · answer #2 · answered by ♥Kay1134♥ 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Effacement is how high your cervix is. My doctor says mine is sky high still. I went to the doctor yesterday and she said this as well as me being open a little bit but not close to delivery. I'm 35 weeks. When you start dropping (the baby's head is engaging) then your cervix will start getting softer and shorter. The dilating part is how much open your cervix is. When you're around 4 cm. that's the best time to try to induce or you should be dilating quicker form then on, hopefully you'll already be in the hospital if you've dilated that much. Good luck!!
2007-12-27 13:03:14 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
dilation is the opening of your cervix
effacement is the thinning of your cervix both need to happen to make labor easier on you
2007-12-27 12:58:23 · answer #4 · answered by lorenzo and lily's mommy 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
efacment is how your cervix is thinng
dilating is how open it is
2007-12-27 13:00:35 · answer #5 · answered by kleighs mommy 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
You can't start dilating until you are fully effaced!
2007-12-27 12:58:22 · answer #6 · answered by Mommy 2 · 0⤊ 6⤋